Firstly, Shaq is better than Bynum. bynum will likely never be Shaq's worst year in Shaq's prime.
And Shaq was literally a MONSTER, compared to other players.

Shaq had some legends on their way out Ewing, Hakeem, David Robinson. Also faced Rodman, who played him well, Ben wallace who played him well, and Zo and Deke who he DOMINATED.

Other good C's had moments against him Divac, Sabonis, Smits, but again Shaq dominated these C's who were out of there way. as Yao came up Shaq dominated but Yao start to hold his own.
Shaq held it down for a while.

But he missed Bynum's a lot of those old guys' primes and he missed these new guys' Dwight, Bynum, Perkins,M Gasol,NeNe, D. jordan will be better, McGee is coming along, Hibbert, Cousins(may be third best C), Brook Lopez,Noah... it seems like these guys have Heart..and are either Quick, skilled or strong... Some of them were so much faster than what big men are expected

This is a interesting era of point guards and Centers

Again - this team, as currently constructed won't make it out of the second round of the playoffs, let alone the West or win the Finals.---fido on 2011 Lakers

He dealt with Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, and you could even argue Malone.

1999-2005 Shaq dealt with Duncan/Robinson pair, Yao, and the defensive center Mutumbo(who won defensive player of the year twice in the 90's and once again in 2001). To some degree you could argue Ben Wallace too. Also, in the very early 2000's, when the Blazers played small ball Rasheed wasn't a slouch either.

As "terrible" as this era of bigs are, their total athleticism compared to that generation is ridiculous. These guys are fast and jump like guards. Hell, Tyson Chandler is considered "old" and he gets at the rim easier than Ewing, Hakeem, and I'm sure many other guys at his age.

As "terrible" as this era of bigs are, their total athleticism compared to that generation is ridiculous. These guys are fast and jump like guards. Hell, Tyson Chandler is considered "old" and he gets at the rim easier than Ewing, Hakeem, and I'm sure many other guys at his age.

The difference between Chandler and those two you named (Hakeem and Ewing) is that Chandler has to be spoon-fed at the rim, coming off of a pick and roll. Hakeem and Ewing were two guys that got to the rim without a Chris Paul.

I mean, if you give a prime Hakeem someone like CP3, and run P&R all day long, you would see him flying as well. He was super athletic and played like a small forward when he decided to face up and drive.

You stick a good defender on Chandler, toss out the P&R (which almost always gave him an open lane, much like Nash and Amare), and he's not playing over the rim anymore.

1 thing is for sure I hated Shaq & I hate Bynum but at least Shaq knew how to get low position on the block and never allowed midgets to force him all the way out damn near 3pt line. SMFH Im sick and tired of watching Bynum and his no athleticism. He still doesnt graps how to throw the ball b4 the double team closes in and forces him into dribbling & or turnovers. Shaq even when he was fat & lazy still got his big azz to the low blocks and got easy looks from Kobe time after time after time. Bynum is incapable of doing that every game. I dont care what talent either one faced. They both played at a time when the true Centers were being phased out the game and then popped up a bunch of hybrids who can interchange from anywhere to 3, 4, or 5 position.

Shaq was already putting up 29/13 in his second season. Aside from 1999-2000, those were the best numbers of his career, and he put those numbers up before Hakeem led his Rockets to a back-to-back. Guess who Hakeem beat in the Finals one year?

RD, you sound biased.

Bynum had 30 boards as a Laker C All-Star, he can be in the SAME SENTENCE AS SHAQ.

Shaq was already putting up 29/13 in his second season. Aside from 1999-2000, those were the best numbers of his career, and he put those numbers up before Hakeem led his Rockets to a back-to-back. Guess who Hakeem beat in the Finals one year?

Since 1985, these are the guys that have had 30+ rebounds in a game (and Drew). NONE of them belong in the same sentence as Shaq...not even Barkley, who is my second favorite player of all time.

Don't call me biased. It really makes you sound stupid.

You mean, they haven't had the career that Shaq has.Chuck and Barkley are peers for sure.Same with Rodman.

Defensively Shaq doesn't belong ina sentence with Rodman or deke.

In fact, if Shaq would have not been a FREAK of NATURE, who knows how good he would have been.

SHAQ is a top 5 Center. Like I said, he didn't face any of those guys in their primes. He was one of the most offensive minded C's ever. His D was suspect, but I'll take him over almost any C in history. not HaKeem or Kareem or Wilt, but perhaps all others.

That being said. In his most relevant years. What comp did he face?

There was Portland,Sac,Utah,san Antonio as the main threats in the west... Nets, Sixers, PACERS IN THE EAST. who was his comp???????

Again - this team, as currently constructed won't make it out of the second round of the playoffs, let alone the West or win the Finals.---fido on 2011 Lakers

Hakeem was the reason why Shaq didn't win the 1995 NBA Finals. What part of that don't you understand? Shaq was already an MVP candidate in 1994. He was being mentioned as the second best center in the NBA, next to Hakeem...and in those Finals, he wasn't able to stop Hakeem...but Hakeem couldn't stop him, either.

So to say Shaq didn't play against those centers...you're just spitting ignorance.

On the other hand, Bynum would get embarrassed by Hakeem. He would give up 40 points, and would have his shot blocked 5+ times. If you don't think so, you're underrating Olajuwon and overrating Drew.

Specualtion asidehakeem was on his way out. yes Shaq played against a thirty plus hakeem and loss. But he didnt face a 25 year old HaKeem.

Hakeem averaged 28/11 in 1995, and it was arguably his best season ever. You obviously didn't grow up watching him. I saw Olajuwon (and all of these guys) playing live on TV.

You can say Duncan, but Duncan was semi scared of Shaq so he remained a PF..

How does that even make sense? Duncan was never afraid of Shaq, or else he would have asked an old D-Rob, or Malik Rose, or Rasho Nesterovic, to defend him. Duncan stepped up and defended Shaq more than anyone else on that Spurs team. Remained a PF because of Shaq? That [expletive] makes zero sense.

Bynum could have did some things versus Kareem.

One of the worst things I've read on TLN.

I mean He slammed on Shaq in his rookie year and he wasn't 10% of the player he was then now..

You're going to sit here and argue that all of those players were exiting their primes when Shaq was in his, yet, you're going to talk about Drew dunking over a 33-year old, injury-prone, overweight Shaq that was averaging just 20/9 that season?

again, HaKeem retired in 2001.. Thats a different era.

Like Barkley and Malone were in the same era.. I wouldnt say Dunacan and Malone even though they played each other for a few seasons.

Kobe's era includes Kidd, Iverson,Hill,Carter,McGrady.. not durant and rose..even though he is playing against them